Latch



(No Model.) l I 2 Smets-sheen 1.

P. H. RICHARDS.

LATCH.

1\I0.5'16,1ms. Patentedeb, 1897.

WL' fnesses: Inweywozj Mgg-l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(NQ Model.)l

E. H. RICHARDS.

LATCH.

,155. Patented Peb. 2, 1897.

im a. M mi G QN um N Q .9% 5.5 sa.. ...,....|.U.:.H...-H..:.--

- 1 s. 0 n. um u... wm w @NEN Tn: cams Pzvzws co. PNOTQLITHO, wAsNms'roN, u, c.

UNrrEn STATES PATENT. OEErcE.,

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

SPECIFICATION forming' part Gf Letters Patent No. 576,155, dated February 2, 1,897. Application filed April 6, 1896. Serial No.586,343. (No model.)

'o all whom, 5' muy call/eerie.'

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS,v

acitizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches, of which the following is a specification. l

This invention relates to that class of mechanical movements which includes the one the retention of the latch in its retracted position when the latch is pushed back before the latch-projecting actuator is returned to its normal position.

Another obj ect of the invention is to provide an improved actuator for the latch, whereby the latch may be released from engagement Withits retaining catch or catches and forced to its forward or project-ed position by a single actuating device without the aid of auxiliary springs or similar actuating means, such as are usually employed.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this application, Figure 1 is a plan of so much of a mechanical movement of the class specified as embodies my present invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same, showing the latch mechanism with the latch in its forward or projected position.- Fig. 3 is an under side view of the latch.

Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, are detail views showing the latch mechanism in four successive stages of operation.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

My invention comprises, in combination with a support and with a pair of catches,a longitudinally-reciprocatory latch transversely movable at one of its ends, this latch being provided With two catches, one of which normally engages one of the first-mentioned catches while the latch is in its normal retracted position, and the other of whichis constructed and positioned to engage the other of the first-mentioned catches when the latch is in its non-operative retracted position. An actuator `is also provided which has a longitudinal movement operative for actuating the latch in transverse direction to release the latch from the catch on the support, this actuator having in addition to such movement a transverse movement by which the longitudinal reciprocation of the latch is effected. Any suitable framework may be employed for carrying the several operative parts of the mechanism, that shown herein being illustrated at A. having a pair of standards or supports, such as 19 and 20, and also carrying a shaft D, operative for actuating a rotary frame or turret, such as H, which turret is illustrated as carrying a shaft 6, having an independent rotary movement controlled, in the present instance, by a starting-arm, such as 426. y

'The support 19 is shown having adjacent to the upper end thereof a bearing or slideway within which the forward end of a latch is adapted to be carried for longitudinal reciprocation, while the other upright or support, 20, is illustrated having a bearing or slideway for supporting, in a substantially similar manner, the rear end of the latch, while at the same time permitting transverse movement of the rear end of such latch, it being understood that when the latch is thrown forward to its projected position it is carried toward the left hand in the drawings. The

forward movement of the latch may be limited in any suitable mannen-as, for instance, by the striking of a stop, such as 55, against the inner side of the fixed support 19.

A latch capable of operation in accordance with my present invention is shown at 50, having its upper side channeled nearthe rear end thereof to form a shoulder or catch 5l, adapted to coperate with a corresponding catch 2l of the 'support 20 and to be held by such stop 21 when the latch is in its normal retracted position. A second catch is shown at 53V', positioned slightly in the rear of the catchy 51 and having a movable connection with the latch by means of a spring-arm, such as 53, so that thecatch53' constitutesaspringcatch movable relatively to the latch 50. This spring-catch is so disposed and arranged as to be capable of engaging a stop shoulder or catch 23, carried on the support 20 in such a manner as to hold the latch farther back than said latch is held when the catch 51 is in en- IOO gagement with the catch 21, the organization of the parts being such that the two catches 51 and 53 are alternately effective, the former being in engagement with the catch 21 when the catch 55 is held up by its spring-arm away from the catch 23 and the catch 53 being in engagement with the catch when the latch is in its retracted position and is pressed down out of engagement with the catch 21 and substantially to the opposite limit of the range of transverse movement of the rear end of the latch.

In order normally to maintain the latch in its upper position, as seen in Fig. 4, a spring is illustrated at 5G, operative to actuate and raise the rear end of the latch, this spring being shown connected to the latch in such a position that the free end of said spring engages the lower wall of the slideway in the support 20, and hence tends normally to hold the rear end of the latch above such lower stop-wall. The spring-catch 53 will of course follow the movement of the latch when not held under compression thereby, and will consequently be released from engagement with the catch A3 when the spring 56 reacts upon the latch.

In some cases the frictional resistance of the faces of the catches 53 and 23 might be so great that the spring-arm 53 would not react quickly enough to disengage the catch 53. In order, therefore, that the release of this spring-catch may be positively effected at the proper moment, I prefer to provide the spring-catch with a projecting arm-such, for instance, as 53"-which may be engaged by a stop on the latch and positively raised by said stop to thereby assure the disengagement of the faces of the catch. The stop which I have illustrated hereinA is preferably in the form of a hook, such as 54, lying just below the rear end of the arm 53" and carried by a depending arm integral with the rear end of the latch.

The actuator which I prefer to employ for operating the latch is shown at GO, hinged to and hence controlled by a suitable keylever, such as Il, pivoted to a iixed portion of the frame-such, for instance, as the support 5a nd provided with stops,such as 7l and 72, for limiting the movements thereof, and with a spring, such as 74, for normally holding the key-lever, with its finger-key 15, in its upper position. The actuator or trippingrod is shown in this instance guided adjacent to its lower end by a loop 69, secured to the framework, and also bearing against a stop-wall at the forward side of a stop-pin, such as G8, also secured to the framework. The actuator or tripping-rod in this instance is preferably provided at its upper end with a resilient arm G4, having a slightly-curved or inclined end 65, this arm having a movement transversely of its length, and hence, as shown herein, longitudinally of the latch 50. Preferably the portion of the trippingrod above the stop 68 is in the nature of a flat spring, the normal position of which is shown in Fig. 4.

When in its upper position, the actuator does not bear downwardly on the latch and the latch stands in engagement with the upper fixed catch, as indicated in Fig. it. The

first part of the downward movement of theV actuator, by bringing the inclined surface G5 of the actuator against the end of the latch, forces back the actuator-arm rearwardly of the latch until asuflieient downward forward pressure is produced on the latch for unhooking this from its catch, when said pressure operates to throw forward the latch to the position shown, for instance, in Fig. 5, this latter movement of the latch being accomplished, when the several parts are properly proportioned and fitted, without any additional downward movement of the actuator. By means of this improvement the latch may be permitted to rest, when in its normally idle position, (shown in Fig. 4a) without any forward pressure thereon, so as to stand free of any tendency to move forward or to become accidentally unhooked.

As the actuator is controlled by the depression of the key-lever, it will be apparent that the arm 64 and the hook 65 constitute a resilient tripper, which is operative by a longitudinal pull for actuating the latch transversely to release the latch from the support, while said tripper is operative on such release of the latch for reciprocating the latch longitudinally by a transverse push to thereby project the latch to its forward position.

The operation of my improved latch mechanism is shown in detail in Figs. 4: to 7, inclusive. The normal positions of the several parts, when standing idle ready for use, are shown in Fig. 4. In this position the latch 50 is held back by the engagement of its fixed catch 51 with the catch 21 of the support, the rear end of the latch being upheld by the action of the spring 5G. If now the turret His rotating and the shaft 6 is revolving with the turret but is not rotating, when the operator presses the finger-key 15 the lever L will swing on its pivot and carry down the tripping-rod, the finger or incline 65 of which rod will carry the rear end of thelatch down at the same time and unhook the catch 51 from the catch 21 of the support, as shown in Fig. 5, the upper end of the actuator being also put under tension during this period. At the moment that the latch is unhooked from the support the resilient tripper will, by .react-ing against the rear end of the latch, forceI the same forward to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 5, as before described, and thereupon the starting-arm 2G will engage the forward-projected end of the latch and will be rotated thereby, thus causing the rotation of the shaft 6. Immediately thereafter the latch is returned by the starting-arm to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 6, the tripper being carried back at the same time. l/Vhen the latch is forced back by the replacing member or finger of the IOO IOS

IIO

starting-arm, it will be apparent that as soon as the catch 51 passes beyond the rear face of the catch 2l the spring 56 will tend to force the rear end of the latch upward to thereby cause the rengagement of these catches.

In order that a latch mechanism of the general type herein specified may be operated under all conditions, it is necessary that provision be made for preventing forward movement of the latch after the same has been forced back by the starting-arm and while the tripping-rod is still held down bythe depression of the key-lever. This is necessary for the reason that if the linger-key is not released before the latch is pushed back by the starting-arm the operation just described will be duplicated on a depression of the key-lever.

By reference to Fig. 6 it will be seen that if the tripper is held down when the latch is pushed back by the replacing-finger of the starting-arm the spring-catch 53' will be carried back and will engage the catch 23 of the support 20, and hence the latch will be held in a non-operative retracted position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 6, until the linger-key is released, whereupon the rear end of the latch will be immediately forced upward by the spring 56, as illustrated in dotted lines in said View; and just after the release of the catch 53 from the catch 23, by the combined action of the spring 53 and the stop 54, as shown in Fig. 7, the latch will be thrust forward by the slight pressure of the actuator and the catch 5l will engage the catch 2l.

It'should be understood, of course, that the parts should be so disposed and proportioned that the catch 5l will be in position, as shown, for instance, in Figs. 6 and 7, to take hold of the catch 2l just before the disengagement of the catch 53', the power of the spring 56 being effective to complete the operation of carrying the latch upward to its normal upper retracted or set position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimisl. The combination with a suitable latchsupport, and with a pair of fixed catches thereon; of a latch mounted for transverse movement at one of its ends, and having two catches, one normally in engagement with one of said rst-mentioned catches when the latch is in its normal retracted position, and the other in position and adapted to engage the other of said first-mentioned catches when the latch is in its non-operative, retracted position. A

2. The combination with a suitable support, and with a pair of iixed catches thereon;

of a latch mounted for transverse movement at one of its ends, and having a xed catch normally in engagement with one of said irstmentioned catches when the latch is in its normal, retracted position, and having also a movable catch in position and adapted to en`- gage the other of said first-mentioned catches when the latch is in its non-operative, retracted position. Y

3. The combination with a suitable support, and with a pair of Xed catches thereon; of a latch mounted for transverse movement at one of its ends, and having a iixed catch normally in engagement with one of said irstmentioned catches when the latch is in its normal, retracted position, and also `having a spring-catch in position and adapted to engage the other of said first-mentioned catches when the latch is in its non-operative, retracted position.

4. The combination with a suitable support, and with a pair of fixed catches thereon; of a latch mounted for transverse movement at one of its ends, and having two alternatelyeffective catches, one normally spring-held in engagement with one of said first-mentioned catches when the latch is in its normal, retracted position, and the other in position and adapted to engage the other of said first-mentioned catches when the latch is in its nonv operative, retracted position.

5. The combination with a suitable support, and with a pair of catches; of a latch mounted for transverse movement at one of its ends,'and having a catch normally springheld in engagement with one of said firstmentioned catches when the latch is in its normal, retracted position, and also having a spring-catch in position and adapted toengage the other of said first-mentioned catches when the latch is in its non-operative retracted position, and said latch also havinga stop in position and Iadapted for releasing the spring-catch on the return of the latch from its non-operative, retracted position, to its normal, retracted position.

6. The combination with a suitable support, and with a catch; of a latch mounted for transverse movement at one of its ends, and having a catch normally in engagement with` said iirst-mentioned catch; and an actuator in position and adapted for actuating said latch, and having a movement operative for transversely actuating the latch to release said latch from said first-mentioned catch, and also having a transverse movement operative for moving the latch. Y

7. The combination with a suitable support, and with a catch; of a latch mounted for transverse movement at one of its ends, and having a catch normally in engagement with said first-mentioned catch; and a combined tripper and actuator in position and adapted for actuating said latch, and operative for actuating the latch by a pull for thereby releasing the latch from` said firstmentioned catch, and also operative for moving the latch by a push.

8. The combination with a suitable support, and with a pair of fixed catches thereon; of a longitudinally-reciprocatory latch having two alternately-effective catches, one in IOO l its normal, retracted position.

9. The combination with a latch-support, and with a catch; of a latch, and a latch tripper and actuator having means in position for bearing on the latch to first release and then move forward the same.

10. The combination With a support for a latch, and With a catch; of a longitudinallyreciprocatory latch carried bythe support for transverse movement at one end for unhooking said catch; and a resilient lat-ch tripper and actuator having its Working movement transversely of the latch, and having an incline in position for bearing Yon the latch to first move the latch transversely to unhook the same from said catch, and to move the latch longitudinally by the resilience of the actuator.

11. The combination with a support for a latch, and With a catch; of a longitudinallyreciprocatory latch carried by the support for transverse movement at one end for unhooking said catch; and a latch tripper and actuator having its Working movement transversely of the latch, and held itself against transverse movement longitudinally of the latch at a point remote from a latch-operating incline thereon; and a latch-operatin g incline on said actuator in position for bearing on the latch to move thelatch transversely to unhook the same from said catch, and to be itself simultaneously actuated transversely by the latch to put the tripper under compression, and so subsequently move the latch longitudinally by the reaction of the tripper.

12. The combination with a latch-support and with a latch positively movable thereon in both directions, of a latch tripper and actuator having means in position for bearing on the latch to first release and then positively move the same; and a device for positively returning the latch to its normal position.

13. The combination With a latch-support having an opening through which the latch is movable, of means for first releasing the latch from its engagement with said support, and then positively projecting the same.

14. The combination with a latch positively movable in both directions and having two catches one 'Fixed and the other movable, said catches being adapted to engage fixed catches of the latch-support, of means for positively projecting the latch; and a movable arm for positively retracting the same.

15. A latch having a fixed catch on one side and a movable catch on the other side, and provided With a stop adapted to engage and positively raise the movable catch, When the latch is operated. y

1G. A latch provided With a fixed catch; a movable catch; and a hook-shaped stop adapted to engage the movable catch.

17. A latch having its upper side channeled to form a fixed shoulder or abutment and provided with a hook-shaped end, said latch also having a spring-catch with a deflected portion adapted to engage said hook-shaped end, and a spring adjacent to said springcatch. v

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS.

lVtnesses:

FRED. J. DOLE, BENTON N. PARKER. 

